Cliffism

The bickering, backstabbing and pseudo-intellectual debate of student socialism.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Backing John MDonnell

With the left increasing its influence in the social movements and the working class movement elements of the permanent Labour left have decided to take a stand.With Labour now further to the right then it has ever been John McDonnell has launched his campaign for the Labour leadership.Despite the fact that the meagre forces of the Socialist Campaign Group will not be enough to get him on the ballot it is a campaign that aim’s to re-engage the traditional left with the new movements.John’s campaign wants to hold meetings and events for the grass roots across the country over the tasks of the political left along the model of the stop the war movement.

Although the campaign is doomed to failure it (along with the election of Walter Wolfgang on to the Labour NEC) should provide encouragement to the whole left and be a boost to forces like Respect who want to work with and grow from the remains of left reformism within the Labour Party.

John's campaign will be a direct challenge to the current political consensus. Millions of people are yearning for an alternative to the policies of war and privatisation promoted by the three major political parties. For the first time in years, they no longer have a political voice.

Over the coming weeks and months, John will be convening a series of meetings across the country which will discuss and flesh out the policy programme of a real Labour government.

Below are some of the policies that John will be campaigning for:

·Support for public services. Against the continued privatisation and marketisation of our public services.

The Politics of Hezbollah

Israel and the Arab world

It is Impossible to understand Hezbollah with out first going over what it sets itself against – The nature of the Israeli State and its relationship to the Arab world.

Israel was created by the growing Zionist movement – born in the anti-Jewish Pogrom’s in Russia and massively strengthened by the defeat of the left and the rise of Nazism in Germany.Zionism is and was a reaction to anti-Semitism which says that “Jew’s can’t rely on anyone but ourselves.”When arriving in Palestine Zionism continued to emphasise its separateness from the Palestinian majority systematically discriminating against Arab workers. Culminating in the 1948 nakbah and the creation of the Israeli state through a campaign of terror by the fascist Ur Gunn (an organisation later to become Sharon’s Likud Party) and the Zionist leadership, expelling 750’000 Palestinian’s in a policy of ethnic cleansing (1/2 the Palestinian population.)The War of 1967 was a second attempt to expel the remaining Palestinian population and occupy the last 20% of Palestine.67 Also saw the rise of the PLO which although not strong enough to force Israel back made it next to impossible to eliminate or expel the remaining Palestinian population.

The central Question of Israeli society since has always been the danger of the Palestinian population and the need to maintain a “Jewish State.”Zionism being the framework the entire political framework still exists within.The question becomes how best to control/contain the Palestinian population in the reservations of the west bank and Gaza while rejecting the repatriation of Palestinian refugees.The differences between left and right over the issue only being over strategy and tactics.

History of Lebanese Resistance

The relationship of the creation of Israel to Lebanon starts early on with 10’000’s of Palestinians fleeing to Lebanon in the 1948 Nakbah. In fact one of the worst Israeli war crimes the Shabra - Shatila massacre , a massacre of up to 3’500 Palestinian refugees.

Lebanon itself has a history of French colonialism which shaped the nature of the resistance to Israel and the alliances Palestinians have made in Lebanon.French divide and rule left a significant minority, Lebanon’s Shia population, oppressed and without political representation.As a result by the 70’s Shias made up the majority of Lebanon’s Communist party and the various left nationalist groups which were the leadership of Lebanon’s rising workers movement.The connection between this force in Lebanon’s society and the Palestinian resistance launching attacks in northern occupied Palestine created a natural alliance.

Israel reprisals against Lebanon’s civilians, and the lack of action by the Lebanese state provoked a massive surge of support for the left resulting in a civil war which by 1975 that the left seemed set to win.The US unable to allow a left victory in the Lebanon encouraged Syria to invade defeating the left and isolating the Palestinians in the camps.

Eventually Israel unable to tolerate the remaining legacy of resistance in Lebanon stepped up its cross border attacks eventually invading in 1982 to remove any Organised Palestinian presence north of its border.14’000 Lebanese and Palestinian’s died in the resulting conflict.Israel laid siege to Beirut before striking a deal with the PLO that in exchange for a PLO evacuation if the city Israel would not enter the Palestinian refugee camps.The IDF then gave the green light to it’s allies the Christian Phalangist militias to enter the camp massacring the 1000’s of those left behind – primarily women, children and the elderly.

Development of Hezbollah

With the defeat of the communist party and the Stalinist influenced groups a vacuum was left around the leadership of the resistance.The influence of state capitalist nationalism and Stalinism was generally on the decline and across the Arab world the influence of Islamic organisations was beginning to increase.Lebanon was no exception with both amal and Hezbollah competing for influence within the resistance movement.

Hezbollah was formed around a narrow Islamist platform inherited from the Iranian revolution of 1979 as a breakaway from Amal. Starting with a call for an Islamic state along the lines of Iran Hezbollah’s experience of fighting the Zionist occupation of 1982 started to transform the organisation.The reality of Lebanon’s diverse social and religious make up and taking on significant numbers of former CP members undermining Hezbollah’s tactic of appealing solely to South Lebanon’s Shia community.However the excluded Shia minority and the poverty stricken areas of south Beirut (known as the belt of misery) remains Hezbollah’s main power base and Hezbollah retains its support for an Iranian style society within the Shia community.

The pivotal moment in Hezbollah’s history was the Israel assassination of Hezbollah’s original leaderAbbas Musawi in 1992 clearing the way for a new young leadership under Hassan Nasrallah to take control of the organisation.This new Leadership had been shaped directly by the Israeli occupation and re-orientated Hezbollah towards a broad non-sectarian appeal.This, coinciding roughly with the collapse of the USSR meant Hezbollah was now in a position to absorb the layers of the CP which had previously been at the fore of the resistance.The other significant part of Hezbollah’s appeal came from a rejection of corrupt Lebanese politics and the adoption of social programs from the old left parties.Hezbollah launching welfare programs, schools and hospitals consolidated its status as social movement with deep roots in the poor Shia areas.

Proving perhaps that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it the Isreali atrocity that finally established Hezbollah’s hegemony over the leadership of the resistance was an Israeli attack on Qana in 1996 which killed over 100 civilians. The wave of popular anger that followed allowing Hezbollah to capitalise on its position and swell its ranks.From this base Hezbollah was able to build a network of Guerillas capable of forcing Israel out of Lebanon in 2000.

Politics and Nature of Hezbollah Today

Robert Pape in the New York Times commented that the reason Israel can never wipe out Hezbollah is that it misunderstands the basic nature of the organisation. Claiming that it is neither principally a political party nor a Islamic militia but a broad movement of resistance. He describes it as a umbrella movement that “tactically coordinates the resistance operations of a variety of groups with a range of secular and religious aims.”Justifying this he quotes his study of 38 suicide attacks from Hezbollah in the 80’s. Of the 38 - 27 were leftists in or close to the CP / Arab Socialist Union, 3 were Christian and only 8 were Islamists.While not rejecting this we should be careful to judge the extent to which this characterisation is true and we should be wary of “lending resistance movements a communist colouration” as Lenin said.

What is fact though is that Hezbollah exists as a state within a state providing an extensive welfare system and running popular TV and radio stations as well as having a political wing 23 MP’s, Ministers in the Government and links to the Syrian and Iranian regimes.Hezbollah’s support is based on strong anti-imperialism, Nasrallah condemned 9/11 referring to a US based on two nations (one rich, one poor) and called Hugo Chavez “A Brother in Struggle.”But there are contradictions within Hezbollah’s politics based on Islamist ideas which in the highly pressurised world of Middle Eastern politics can lead to major compromises by the Hezbollah leadership.Its popularity was dented when it demonstrated in favour of a Syrian presence in Lebanon and its position in the government has left Hezbollah supporting neo-liberal economic attacks which hurt their supporters in the deprived areas of Lebanon.Popularity it has only regained by standing up to Israeli aggression.

The Ceasefire

Facing a defeat at the hands of a Hezbollah lead resistance the Israeli government has been forced gain through the UN what it couldn’t achieve though force. This humiliation of the IDF has sent ructions though Israeli society with Olmert getting attacked from the right and left and the IDF claiming it could have continued fighting if not for this “political” decision.

The UN resolution itself is heavily weighted towards Israel with the US finally giving the green light to text which might help Israel get what it couldn’t take militarily. It demands the “cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks”, but only an end to “offensive military operations” by Israel who have always claimed its assaults are “defensive.”It calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and the unconditional release of the Israeli soldiers whose capture formed the pretext for the invasion of Lebanon while Israel is only “encouraged” to reconsider the fate of the Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Such a ceasefire can never be the basis for a lasting peace in Lebanon as it leaves unchecked the Israeli expansionist project and its attitude to the human rights of Palestinians. Of more immediate significance it makes no call for Israeli to leave Lebanon immediately and Hezbollah have vowed to continue to defend south Lebanon from further attacks.Hezbollah claim victory and this is certainly echoed around the Arab world as they have survived the onslaught and made an ongoing Israeli occupation impossible.The overwhelming feeling across the worlds media is that this is a temporary peace with the US and Israel unable to let this humiliation remain and the resistance across the region strengthened.

Marxist Position on Resistance

But for us our support for Hezbollah is not based on its political ideology, whether it is predominately nationalist or Islamist is of only secondary significance.The question is where Hezbollah fits into the totality of imperialism and resistance in the Middle East.Lukac argued that in the modern world we need to judge movements for national liberation not on their surface politics but on “their historical significance” or “on what concrete part they play in the concrete whole.” Meaning we have to assess each anti-imperialist struggle from the standpoint of the whole contemporary alignment of forces in the imperialist system.To judge whether each particular struggle weakens the hold of the world capitalism and provides a chance to generalise the struggle for a fight against inequality and oppression.

We have to be clear that whatever groups like Hezbollah and Hamas are doing today the only consistent enemies of imperialism are the working class and poor of the region which are constantly under attack by the poverty and insecurity imperialism brings.The Middle East like the rest of the world is divided not just by imperialism and the clash between states but also by class.Groupings like Hezbollah can be the force that resists attacks on a country like Lebanon but can also join state governments make compromises sanctioning neo-liberal policies against their populations at home.Saying this means recognising that the weight of US imperialism is a force that weighs down on people of the entire region. Therefore a defeat for it weakens imperialism internationally and strengthens the resistance to it and the fight for a better world.

It is because of this understanding we raise the slogan of unconditional but critical support.Because unlike the mass of workers and the oppressed in Lebanon who are the consistent enemies of imperialism Hezbollah contains contradictions which can lead it to make peace with the capitalist system and take a role in running its own part of it. Evidence of groups which have done this are strewn across the Middle East and Africa running regional capitalisms.Lukac again put it like this,

“Forces that work towards revolution today may well operate in the reverse direction tomorrow. And it is vital to note these changes… are determined decisively by the constantly changing relations of the totality of the historical situation and the social forces at work.”

So for example the Islamist grouping of Hamas can be working on the side of the oppressed against capital and imperialism while Lula’s PT in Brazil notionally a workers Party can be working for imperialism against the interests of its ownworking class and oppressed.

Lebanon’s Left Today

What is needed in Lebanon as in so much of the world is a left capable of consistently leading the working class against imperialism and in a struggle for a better world.In Lebanon there is still a significant left both in the form of the old communist party and within the new movements rising against imperialism in the Middle East. The relief efforts pulled together significant sections of Lebanese society across sectarian divides and the communist party is still a significant force which fought alongside Hezbollah in the resistance. These new forces coming out of the grass roots could form the basis of a new political leadership if more of the left could grasp the scale of the defeat for imperialism across the region and the need to form a clear political leadership to exploit weakness of the existing Arab client states.

Resistance across the Arab World

The reaction to the invasion across the Middle East is a demonstration of Lukacs analysis of imperialism and national liberation.Protests in support of Hezbollah and the resistance have occurred everywhere. 5’000 marched in Cairo (the political centre of the Middle East) and 3’000 in Alexandria while the Egyptian government condemned Hezbollah’s “adventures” alongside the Saudi royal family. Saudi Arabia has incidentally been awarded 6 billion in arms by the US for its loyalty.Protests also took place in Kuwait, 10’000 Shia and Sunni marched in Bahrain and 1000’s more demonstrated across the Middle East.

After the ceasefire reports have come in from across the region of people celebrating Israel’s defeat and looking to Hezbollah and Nasrallah as an example of a force capable of defeating the US and its regional allies.

Solution to Palestine – The Political Leadership Needed.

While Hezbollah’s conception of a struggle between oppressed and oppressor and its recognition of the reactionary nature of the Israeli state resonates in the Middle East it can never successfully liberate Palestine.What Hezbollah lacks is the ability to reach out to the strongest force in the Middle East – The Arab working class.The rise of Kifaya (“enough”) in Egypt, its alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and independent calls on Egyptian oil workers to stop supplying Israel with energy for its attack on Lebanon point the way forwards.Here is a organisation which is both part of the movement and capable of giving an independent argument about the way forwards.

Across the Middle East movements are growing in resistance to the new imperialism which are radicalising millions and providing a powerful new audience for the left.In Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq the left needs to be a part of these movements, supporting the struggle for national liberation, while building organisations that can unite the struggles and draw in the force that can liberate Palestine and the Middle East– A united Arab working class using its control over the regions resources to shake of the US multinationals and end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Will the ceasefire hold?

Will the ceasefire hold? Somehow I suspect a solution based on a French army returning to a former colony is going to end in tears.A better question is why Hezbollah accepted a ceasefire on terms that have enabled the IDF to stay when Israeli politics were in collapse and Hezbollah seemed to be gaining the upper hand?A good chance to find out what is happening will be this Monday:

NUS

The Stop the War Coalition has released a motion for all Student Union’s to put their name to. Please show your support.

This union notes:

That the disaster and chaos of the so-called “war on terror” continues to devastate the Middle East. The death toll in Iraq is well over 100,000 and thousands more have lost their lives in Afghanistan. After several years of occupation primarily by US and UK forces, the situation in these countries continues to deteriorate.

The increasingly aggressive rhetoric from George Bush and Tony Blair directed at other powers in the region, in what Blair refers to as an “arc of extremism”, particularly Iran.

The recent Israeli attack on and invasion of Lebanon in which over 1,100 people were killed and one million displaced (with children constituting a third of these figures), and the position taken by the NUS NEC meeting of 3 August which backed up Bush and Blair’s position in refusing to call for an immediate unconditional ceasefire.

The ‘Time to go’ demonstration organised by the Stop the War Coalition outside the Labour party’s annual conference on 23 September, calling for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, against an attack on Iran, and against replacement of the Trident nuclear weapons programme.

This union believes:

The so-called “war on terror” has been a disaster for the people of the Middle East and for the world in general, and has created immense hostility towards the imperialist occupying powers.

The threats towards Iran, and possible military intervention, follow directly in this vein: the need to control oil, and the need to maintain control in the face of a possible alliance between Iran and Shia forces in Iraq.

Israel’s assault on Lebanon was inexorably linked to the “war on terror”.

The position taken by the NUS on Lebanon, and more particularly its refusal to support the 23 September demonstration was not only a huge mistake, but also cuts directly against the mood of the anti-war movement which represents a majority of people in the country, including a majority of students.

This union resolves:

To support, publicise and send transport to the Stop the War Coalition’s ‘Time to go’ demonstration (detailed in ‘notes 4’).

To also give this level of support to any emergency demonstrations organised by the Stop the War Coalition in response to the current crisis, and to future events.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

NUS disgrace - Victory to the resistance

Netanyahu has described Blair as bravely standing up for his convictions on the Middle East.Remembering this is a man who leads Israeli semi-fascist Likund Party this is some praise. An accolade to be added to his close friendship with the (semi-fascist) Berlusconi and “Labour friendly” Rupert Murdoch – As my Granddad says you can judge a man from the company he keeps.Sadly this is now an accolade that can be extended to the NUS which has bravely stood up for “brave little Israeli” joining the worlds biggest military powers, the CIA, the British government and the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal.

The NEC meeting last weak decided to reject even the semi-racist AWL’s motion on the crisis (a motion event he most blood thirsty B52 liberal would be happy with) in favour of a motion that condemned Hezbollah as racist and as equally to blame for the crisis as the IDF.To add insult to injury the NUS also refused to call for an immediate ceasefire instead lining up with George bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, people who think Israel has the right to destroy Lebanonuntil it decides to stop. The Independent’s front cover showing the flags of countries calling (and not calling) for an immediate ceasefire can now add the NUS’ logo to the box containing only the US, UK and Israeli flags.

After adding Insult to injury the NUS (not yet satisfied) decided to jump up and down on the head of the principle of internationalism it claim’s to hold dear. Yes not content with giving the green light to Israeli war crimes the NUS decided to go out of its way to attack the UK anti-war movement it supposedly supports.So instead of using its voice to urge the government to stop Israel’s policy of collective punishment (ie mass murder of innocents) it decided to write to the Respect Coalition about its support for the resistance to mass murder in Lebanon.Words can’t express the contemptible level Gemma Tumelty’s organised Independents and the National Organisation of Labour Students have sunk to.

Perhaps to continue the NUS’ long march to the right it should now support Israel’s land invasion of Lebanon. I wait with baited breath but until then in the real world the resistance continues to build in Manchester as it does across the Middle East,

Hezbollah takes a stand...

Until I can find the response from the lebanonese communist Party Nasrallah's words will have to surfice. Perhap's reading his actual words as opposed to the Zionist interpretation will cause some to question their assumptions...

I address you anew as we approach the end of the first month of this barbaric and aggressive war which the Zionists imposed on Lebanon and on every human being, stone, location, and symbol in Lebanon...

When the prime minister presented the seven-point plan and was discussed in the government, we dealt positively with this plan... The Lebanese Government proposed a seven-point plan, but the Americans and the French responded with the draft resolution that has been submitted to the Security Council.

The least that can be said about this draft resolution is that it is unfair and unjust and gives the Israelis more than what they wanted or asked for... this draft resolution in essence wanted to give the Israelis through politics and international pressures what they failed to obtain through fighting.

The government's decision on its preparedness to send 15,000 soldiers from the Lebanese Army to be deployed in all this area will greatly help Lebanon and its friends to press for amending the draft resolution, which is being prepared and debated at the Security Council, and will open the way for an appropriate political treatment that can lead to halting the aggression against Lebanon.

... This [planned deployment] is, in our opinion, an honourable, national solution because it is the national army that will be deployed on the border, and not invading forces, mercenary forces, or forces that take orders from the enemies, but the national army that takes orders from the elected Lebanese Government - in this sense, as a solution, we accept it...

The deployment of the Lebanese Army will help preserve sovereignty and independence. This is a better and a more appropriate alternative to the deployment of international forces, especially since we do not know which orders they follow or what their mission or duty will be.

Here, I come to the field developments in the ongoing war. In the last televised speech, I said that the enemy will resort to, in light of the continued military failures, further attacks against the infrastructure, civilian installations, and civilians. This is exactly what has been taking place; namely, more massacres...

The killing of civilians, including men, women, and children, is taking place deliberately since it is the only painful method available to this military helpless and bloodthirsty enemy to put pressure on the Lebanese, the resistance, and the state.

In addition, there is continued targeting of residential places and systematic destruction of houses and buildings in the southern suburb. For instance, there are vacant buildings, but everyday they come to demolish a number of these buildings. Are these not war crimes? Is not the killing of children and women a war crime? Is not the demolition of vacant buildings that are distant from the battlefield and that are not used in any way and have nothing to do with Hezbollah's leaders and fighters considered a war crime? This is in addition to the continued destruction of what remains of the Lebanese infrastructure.

Does anyone believe that all these bridges, roads, and infrastructure were destroyed only to cut off the resistance's supply lines? Is this a logical and reasonable matter or the goal is to destroy the infrastructure to exercise pressure on the Lebanese? The killing of civilians aims to put pressure on the Lebanese and the destruction of houses aims to put pressure on the Lebanese so as to surrender, yield to, and accept the Israeli conditions on the basis of which the war was originally waged.

As a matter of fact, it is very regrettable and unsurprising that the Security Council's draft resolutions hold no blame for the Zionists over all their war crimes, massacres, acts of genocide in Lebanon, and systematic destruction of Lebanon. The capture of two Israeli soldiers in a purely military operation deserves all this condemnation and denunciation by the international community, whereas the response which destroyed buildings, killed people, and violated all laws and norms does not deserve any blame.

... We are still holding fast in the field. We are still strong and capable. This, in itself, is a great achievement for the resistance and a big failure for the enemy in achieving the targets they announced with regard to the resistance. We are still fighting in the front villages and frontline. Although, we do not intend to retain territory, the hero and valiant resistance men insist on continuing to fight until the last bullet.

Imagine that fighting is continuing in the border town of Ait al-Shaab until this minute. The same thing is happening in other border towns. Your sons and brothers among the mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance are in fact making miracles there and setting an example of heroic and brave jihad that is unprecedented in history.

So far, a large number of Merkava tanks have been destroyed. This point is important. Over 60 Merkava tanks and a large number, scores of military bulldozers and scores of military personnel carriers have been destroyed so far. More than 100 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and military bulldozers have been destroyed until this hour.

I will not speak about the killed and wounded among the settlers [Israelis], but I will speak about the officers and soldiers. So far, more than 100 officers and soldiers have been killed and more than 400 officers and soldiers have been wounded in the confrontations, dozens of them are in critical condition, as admitted by the enemy itself. This concerns the ground confrontation.

As for the rocket bombardment, the activity of the resistance is still the way it was in the first days. When Olmert said that Hezbollah was no longer the way it was, your sons and brothers, the mujahideen of the resistance, answered him by 350 rockets, which fell on various Zionist military bases and colonies in northern occupied Palestine [Israel].

Until this moment, the enemy has failed to reduce or weaken this rocket capability that is available to Hezbollah and the resistance. Consequently, the residents of these areas have remained in shelters and a large number of them have left. This is in addition to significant economic, material, financial, and human losses, which the enemy is still hiding.

Notice that throughout the previous Arab wars, the Israelis used to declare their losses, while the Arabs used to hide them. But today, when Lebanon is bombed, buildings are destroyed, martyrs fall, massacres are committed, despite the negative psychological impact of these scenes sometimes, everything is declared. The Zionists, meanwhile, are hiding everything. Where do hundreds of rockets fall? So far, they have spoken about more than 3,000 rockets that have fallen on them. We assert to you that these rockets are guided by God and are guided technically and are not fired indiscriminately.

In all events, the Israelis have so far not managed to control the border strip, which they said they want to go back to, as the case was previously¿ Nonetheless, I tell the Zionists: You can come to any place; you can stage an incursion; land your airborne troops; and enter this village or that point.

However, all of this will cost you a great deal. You will not be able to stay on our land. If you enter it, we will drive you out by force. We will turn the land of our precious south into a graveyard for the Zionist invaders.

To the Arabs of Haifa I have a special message. I say that we have been pained and are still pained for the loss of your martyrs and for your wounded. I urge you, I appeal to you to leave this city. I hope you would do that. In the past, your presence there and what happened to you has made us hesitate in attacking this city... Please spare us this hesitation and spare your blood, which is our blood, and leave this city.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Victory to the Resistance

The national demonstration for an immediate ceasefire in the Lebanon and Israel out of Palestine was amazing. Over 100’000 people at very short notice. The over whelming mood was solidarity with the Lebanese people. The slogan “We are all Hezbollah” and the SWP slogan’s of “Victory to the Resistance” cutting with the crowd.

This is very short as I’m in a café and generally have no internet until the 15th but need to make a quick announcement.